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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | VOL. 162, NO. 45 | www.dailytrojan.com
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007
Trojan looks to carry Olympic torch
By SARAH DADA
Daily Trojan
Right before she falls into a pool, Lisa
Ely says she can run on water. “OK. So I
can’t really run on water … yet. But I can
run anywhere else.” And Ely hopes that
run takes her straight to Beijing.
USC alumna Ely is one of 18 finalists
for three torchbearer spots in the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing. In her 30-sec-ond
online video campaign — posted by
the contest’s sponsors, computer software
company Lenovo Group Limited — she
promises, if chosen, to “run the whole
way with a smile.”
Ely, a 1994 graduate and former
member of the USC women’s row-ing
team, is now in fifth place in the
contest, which initially received about
6,000 applications. Voting takes place at
www.newthinkers.lenovo.com and ends
Wednesday at midnight eastern time.
A serendipitous click of a mouse led
Ely to the finalist spot. Ely, who has had
an interest in the Olympics since she
watched the flame pass in 1984 and ana-lyzed
the history of the Olympic games
in a sports class at USC, aspired to be
an Olympic contestant in rowing while
she was a USC student. Though she was
a Pac-10 rower and ranked as a national
lightweight, her dreams were crushed
when her partner retired and she could
no longer compete.
Though years of hard work went into
her goal of rowing under the Ameri-can
flag, the chance to represent her
country while carrying the torch came by
accident.
“One night, I was literally just surfing
the Web and I came across the Lenovo
website,” Ely said in a phone interview. “I
have actually always been a huge fan of
the Olympics, and just to be able to pass
on that Olympic spirit and flame would
be a dream come true.”
Friends said Ely’s strong spirit would
shine if she were accepted to carry the
Alumna Lisa Ely looks to
recapture dreams to compete in
the games by entering contest.
| see torch, page 2 |
Isabella Josefsberg | Daily Trojan
Fight on | Lisa Ely, ’94, poses with the American flag she would have brought
to the Olympics when training on the USC women’s crew team in the 1990s.
By ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
Daily Trojan
Community members from the
North Area Neighborhood Devel-opment
Council are rallying to op-pose
the new Exposition Light Rail
Line for safety reasons, but it may
be too late to alter construction
plans despite recent reports that de-clare
the line unsafe.
The Exposition Light Rail Line is
a mass transit train that will stretch
from Downtown Los Angeles to
Culver City, with the expected goal
of making that commute just 30
minutes.
Community members and activ-ists
are taking issue with numerous
street-level crossings that they feel
are inadequately protected, as well
as the tracks’ proximity to Dorsey
High School. They also contend
that the line appears similar in con-
Community activists cite
safety concerns, but city
officials say plans are set.
Locals
want
red light
on Expo
| see expo, page 3 |
Costume in car causes bomb scare
Ghouls and witches are the
typical frightening faces floating
around on Halloween week. But
it was an army recruiter’s costume
that caused a true scare near
campus Monday.
The costume, which was meant
to look like a suicide bomber, was
left in the backseat of a car parked
at Superior Warehouse Grocers
alongside faux dynamite to be used
as props.
Proceeding with caution
Above: A Los Angeles
Police Department officer
stands near a car that
was reported to contain a
suspicious device Monday.
By KYL A SEGAL A
Daily Trojan
A National Football League team will not be kick-ing
off at the Coliseum anytime soon, despite rumors
surfacing earlier this year.
There are many renovations that need to be made
to the Coliseum before it would be comparable to
other competing venues, said David Roberts, eco-nomic
development deputy to the president of the
Coliseum Commission.
“The public is not willing to invest hundreds of
millions of dollars on professional football,” Roberts
said. “You’re looking at investing public money in
this infrastructure. The City of Los Angeles would
not look favorably on that type of investment.”
Roberts said the city has other priorities for its tax
dollars, such as schools and the fire department.
The Coliseum was originally built on land owned
by the state, financed half by the county and half by
the city. The commission, which oversees operation
of the venue, wants to improve the concession stands,
increase the amount of seating and renovate the re-strooms
to improve fan experience, Roberts said. It
also wants to improve on-site facilities for the ath-
The current home of USC football needs
significant renovations before it is ready
to host a professional team, officials say.
Coliseum Commission
says no plans for NFL
team in near future
| see coliseum, page 6 |
The Los Angeles Police
Department Bomb Squad and
LAPD officers responded to the
scene to clear the threat.
See page 2 for story »
Eric Wolfe | Daily Trojan
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE »
USC women’s soccer has surprised
everyone except itself en route to its
best start in recent memory. 16
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Annenberg Writer in Residence Norman
Corwin responds to questions of how to
be a world citizen. 4

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | VOL. 162, NO. 45 | www.dailytrojan.com
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007
Trojan looks to carry Olympic torch
By SARAH DADA
Daily Trojan
Right before she falls into a pool, Lisa
Ely says she can run on water. “OK. So I
can’t really run on water … yet. But I can
run anywhere else.” And Ely hopes that
run takes her straight to Beijing.
USC alumna Ely is one of 18 finalists
for three torchbearer spots in the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing. In her 30-sec-ond
online video campaign — posted by
the contest’s sponsors, computer software
company Lenovo Group Limited — she
promises, if chosen, to “run the whole
way with a smile.”
Ely, a 1994 graduate and former
member of the USC women’s row-ing
team, is now in fifth place in the
contest, which initially received about
6,000 applications. Voting takes place at
www.newthinkers.lenovo.com and ends
Wednesday at midnight eastern time.
A serendipitous click of a mouse led
Ely to the finalist spot. Ely, who has had
an interest in the Olympics since she
watched the flame pass in 1984 and ana-lyzed
the history of the Olympic games
in a sports class at USC, aspired to be
an Olympic contestant in rowing while
she was a USC student. Though she was
a Pac-10 rower and ranked as a national
lightweight, her dreams were crushed
when her partner retired and she could
no longer compete.
Though years of hard work went into
her goal of rowing under the Ameri-can
flag, the chance to represent her
country while carrying the torch came by
accident.
“One night, I was literally just surfing
the Web and I came across the Lenovo
website,” Ely said in a phone interview. “I
have actually always been a huge fan of
the Olympics, and just to be able to pass
on that Olympic spirit and flame would
be a dream come true.”
Friends said Ely’s strong spirit would
shine if she were accepted to carry the
Alumna Lisa Ely looks to
recapture dreams to compete in
the games by entering contest.
| see torch, page 2 |
Isabella Josefsberg | Daily Trojan
Fight on | Lisa Ely, ’94, poses with the American flag she would have brought
to the Olympics when training on the USC women’s crew team in the 1990s.
By ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
Daily Trojan
Community members from the
North Area Neighborhood Devel-opment
Council are rallying to op-pose
the new Exposition Light Rail
Line for safety reasons, but it may
be too late to alter construction
plans despite recent reports that de-clare
the line unsafe.
The Exposition Light Rail Line is
a mass transit train that will stretch
from Downtown Los Angeles to
Culver City, with the expected goal
of making that commute just 30
minutes.
Community members and activ-ists
are taking issue with numerous
street-level crossings that they feel
are inadequately protected, as well
as the tracks’ proximity to Dorsey
High School. They also contend
that the line appears similar in con-
Community activists cite
safety concerns, but city
officials say plans are set.
Locals
want
red light
on Expo
| see expo, page 3 |
Costume in car causes bomb scare
Ghouls and witches are the
typical frightening faces floating
around on Halloween week. But
it was an army recruiter’s costume
that caused a true scare near
campus Monday.
The costume, which was meant
to look like a suicide bomber, was
left in the backseat of a car parked
at Superior Warehouse Grocers
alongside faux dynamite to be used
as props.
Proceeding with caution
Above: A Los Angeles
Police Department officer
stands near a car that
was reported to contain a
suspicious device Monday.
By KYL A SEGAL A
Daily Trojan
A National Football League team will not be kick-ing
off at the Coliseum anytime soon, despite rumors
surfacing earlier this year.
There are many renovations that need to be made
to the Coliseum before it would be comparable to
other competing venues, said David Roberts, eco-nomic
development deputy to the president of the
Coliseum Commission.
“The public is not willing to invest hundreds of
millions of dollars on professional football,” Roberts
said. “You’re looking at investing public money in
this infrastructure. The City of Los Angeles would
not look favorably on that type of investment.”
Roberts said the city has other priorities for its tax
dollars, such as schools and the fire department.
The Coliseum was originally built on land owned
by the state, financed half by the county and half by
the city. The commission, which oversees operation
of the venue, wants to improve the concession stands,
increase the amount of seating and renovate the re-strooms
to improve fan experience, Roberts said. It
also wants to improve on-site facilities for the ath-
The current home of USC football needs
significant renovations before it is ready
to host a professional team, officials say.
Coliseum Commission
says no plans for NFL
team in near future
| see coliseum, page 6 |
The Los Angeles Police
Department Bomb Squad and
LAPD officers responded to the
scene to clear the threat.
See page 2 for story »
Eric Wolfe | Daily Trojan
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE »
USC women’s soccer has surprised
everyone except itself en route to its
best start in recent memory. 16
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Annenberg Writer in Residence Norman
Corwin responds to questions of how to
be a world citizen. 4